Romantic Tales of the Golden Sun
by Vestrwald
Summary: A collection of romantic tales that take place after the Rise of the Golden Sun. First Story: Kraden must help a friend open his heart to the lady he loves best. Will he succeed or will his friend rove on?


Disclaimer: I do not own these characters designs, names, or actions. Their life is their own (Or, in this rare case, Camelot's).

_A Chance Meeting_

The wind rushed and howled, moving as fast as it could over the open plain, carrying with it the many snow flakes that fell from the sky. It was free, wild, and bound to no paths. Over the hill it rushed and past the tree. It rose over the cliff and dropped down into the valley. Far off one could see the village of Vault. Off it sped, hurling over tree and rock, determined to reach the buildings. Soon it ran around a house and then another.

The wind crackled with laughter as it wiped around another bend. It caused an old man's brown cloak to flap violently and almost blow off into the wind. The man grumbled and wrapped his cloak tighter around him and made his way though the thick snow to one of the houses. He was an aged fellow, bent over and grey in hair and beard. But his blue eyes had not yet lost their spark of intelligence. Upon his nose was an old pair of spectacles.

He soon came to the house and read the sign the hung over the door. "The Dancing Dragon," he said in an old voice that was low and gravel like. He stared at the sign for a moment, but soon took his eyes off it and entered the inn. He shivered in delight as he entered the warm inn and left behind the cold winds. He turned around and tried to shut the door, but the heavy winds would not allow it to shut. He was about to give up when a heavy hand came from behind him and gave the door a short shove. It closed obediently.

"Thank you, dear sir." The old man turned around to get a look at his helper, but his face was covered by a large forest green hood that was worn despite the heat of the room. The man just nodded and walked over to a door. The aged man looked after him a bit, but then made way over to the desk were the innkeeper stood.

"What can I do for you, Master…?" said the innkeeper.

"Kraden. And I would like a room, please. Any will do." The old man pushed his spectacles, which had slipped down a bit earlier, back up to the bridge of his nose.

"Very well, Master Kraden. Your room will be the first one your left. Feel free to come to the common-room if you need company." Kraden just nodded, not really paying much attention, and made his way to the stairs by the innkeeper's desk. Kraden found the room with no problem and after giving it a quick look over, went back down stairs. On the other wall were two large doors made of heavy wood. He walked over, opened the doors, and walked into the common-room.

The room was not of a very large size, but it served its purpose well enough. There were tables scattered around the room and a bar on the far side of the room from the door. By the bar there was a fire going that heated the room. There was a small number of people in the room, about twenty or so. Most were gathered near the bar and were drinking and talking. Once in a while a slurred voice took up a song. That happened as Kraden entered the room.

_I heard old Priscilla on the hill_

_crying for a cloak to stop the chill._

_Who should come but the Justinus boy?_

_A gleam in his eye and a grin coy,_

_maybe he has a cloak for her throat._

_No old cloak has he, no good fine coat._

_But he took her down and kept her warm,_

_he shared himself in that cold wind storm._

Kraden snorted in disgust at the vulgar song. Kraden looked about for a place to sit, preferable away from the drinking men. He saw a table a comfortable distance away, but it already had an occupant. It was the man who had helped him earlier. Indeed, it was he, for he still wore his cloak and hood. He had his tall legs stretched out and a tankard of ale in front of him.

The man saw him looking over at him, but gave no acknowledgement. Kraden slowly and made his way through the tables to the man. "Do you mind if I sit here?" Before the man could reply, though, Kraden was already in the seat. When the man made no move to remove him, Kraden smiled. "Thank you again. I do believe that I will owe you more before the night is over." Kraden chuckled a bit at the thought, but the man showed no sign of smiling.

Kraden frowned a bit and took out his pipe and placed it between his teeth and chewed thoughtfully on the end. So they sat there for a while, the cloaked man silent and Kraden staring hard at him, chewing on the end of his pipe.

After a while the man stood up and made as if to leave, but Kraden spoke, "Tell me, Felix, where have you been and why do you not speak to me?" The man stopped and looked hard at Kraden. "Sit down, I wish to talk to you." Felix nodded and sat down; removing the hood he wore. Beneath the hood was a long, tangled mess of brown hair. And now that the hood was pulled back, one could see that he had eyes of a murky brown.

"Tell me, old friend, how did you know it was me?"

Kraden smiled as he continued to chew. "I didn't. I suspected it was you when you closed the door. I saw the same look you always have in your eyes. When you did not remove me, it raised my suspicion. When you made to leave, I made a guess." Felix nodded and continued to look at the old man.

"Shall I call the bartender over to get you something to drink?"

"No, I shall be fine. Besides, he seems busy enough with all of those others," said Kraden, gesturing with his pipe the men at the bar. Felix nodded silently in agreement and once more they sat there in silence. "Tell me, Felix, what bothers your mind? You seem to be deep in thought."

Felix, startled out of his thoughts, just mumbled a reply. "It is nothing. Do not trouble yourself." Kraden nodded, but wouldn't leave it alone.

"I have seen that look before on few faces, my dear friend. And all of the time it was on the faces of men thinking of ladies whom they love best. I have seen it on Susa's face as he looked at Kushinda. I have seen it on the face of lords as they gazed at ladies from a far back in the days when Alchemy was still hidden from Weyard." Felix was once again startled, but remained silent. "If you wish, will you tell me who she is?"

Felix sighed in frustration as he looked up at the old man, his frustration slowly building up. "Kraden, I have no time for these games." His voice was even and did not betray his frustration, his voice never betrayed anything.

"Is it Sheba? No, she is too young for you to care for her beyond friendship. Perhaps someone else, then? A girl you met only once for a long period of time." Kraden's eyes closed in thought. "Ah, yes. It is Uzume, is it not?"

Felix said nothing and glared at Kraden. "It is, then. Yes, I remember now. You were loath to leave Izumo. We stayed there longer then we had at any of the other towns. Four days, it was. You said you wanted to make sure the dragon was dead for good, but you knew better. I cannot believe I did not have the wit to see before."

"Why do you pry, Kraden?" grumbled Felix. Some men in the room noticed that the tall stranger looked ready to slay the old man. And some would have worried, if the ale in their hand had not called for their immediate attention.

Kraden glared at Felix, a stare he learned from Jenna. "It is not good to keep things like this bottled up, my friend."

"So they say."

"Aye, so they say. And _they_ know more about it than _you_ do, my dear adept."

"And what would you know of it, Kraden? You have only had love for mysteries of the world." Felix could feel the rage boil in him. _May he go to the Halls of Grimaldor for this_, he thought.

"Because, my lad, you suffer. I know, for once I was in love." Felix's glare softened a bit at this revelation.

_This man in love?_ he thought.

Kraden seemed to read his thoughts and spoke. "Yes, indeed. I am human after all. Love can touch the hearts of any, including mine." Kraden's eyes then drifted and it seemed as though they were staring in to the past.

"Her name was Gwyn. Tall she was, and fair was her hair. Her eyes were like the most piercing emeralds. Oh, how I loved her eyes. Aye, I said they were like emeralds, but they seemed more like stars that had fallen from heaven. Oh, how I treasured her.

"My heart quivered whenever she passed me by and my tongue grew dumb and my legs became like roots. How my hands felt sparks when I dared to brush my hand against hers as I walked by." Kraden then fell silent and his shoulders did shake as he thought of her.

"Why did you never tell her?" asked Felix. Kraden did not answer and Felix feared he had slipped from him when he whispered.

"She was Gwyn of Tolbi. She was the wife of Babi of so many years ago."

"Babi?" asked Felix in disbelief.

"Aye, she was wedded to Babi. I meet her the day of their wedding. She was more comely in my eyes then any other woman I had seen. But then Babi took her hand and kissed it and took her to be his wife, my heart cracked."

"But Babi would be too old for her, was he not?"

"Aye, that is true. And it was not for love that he married her, but rather for the love of gold and for his need of an heir, for she was the daughter of Darrin McCoy, who is the grandfather of Donahue McCoy, the current lord of Bilibin. And so they married, but no heir did she bear for Babi."

Kraden then fell silent and chewed on his pipe some more. Felix stared hard at him before he spoke, "What became of Gwyn?"

Kraden chewed on his pipe some more before he spoke again, chocking slightly as he did so, "She died. As I now know, she was always sickly when she was young. She died several years after Babi married her. I was gone at the time and I did not learn about her fate for many months." He now looked at Felix, who could now see the eyes of Kraden, which were red and shaking with emotion. "I do not even know where she is buried, since there is no royal tomb in Tolbi."

Felix remained silent then as he looked at his old friend. It seemed to him that it was for the first time that he saw Kraden, for he now saw the bent over shape of an old man who had seen much, good and bad, rather then that tall and proud Alchemist who once traveled all of Weyard despite his age. "Why have you never told me this?"

"There was never any need," said Kraden after a short snort at the question. "Yet now there is a need. You are making nearly the same decision I made long ago, the choice to keep my heart silent." Kraden then wiped his eyes with his hands and now it seemed a fire burned in his eyes that had long been absent.

"You can keep your mind silent for all of the years after this, but you most open it once to her. You need her, despite all you think, say, and do, you need her."

Felix bowed his head and thought hard, even though his heart screamed the answer to him. "You are right, my friend. I have been denying this thought to myself for too long." He saw Uzume's blushing face and raised his hand as though to brush away a hair, but all that his hand touched was air. He stared at his hand in front of him for a moment, wondering why he wanted to touch a mere thought. "I shall go to Uzume, though the journey will be long."

"You may not need to, lad," said Kraden. Felix gave him a look of confusion. Kraden just simple pointed at the door and indeed there stood a woman. She wore a silver mantel upon her shoulders, a common covering for a woman in the North, but beneath the mantel one could see foreign robes of white. Her hair was like a cloudless night, yet it had speaks in it as if stars were in her hair. Her eyes were an earthy dark, a testimony to her Venus Psynergy.

Truly this was Uzume, the Leader of the village Izumo, sister to Susa the Dragon Lord, whose deed of slaying the vile serpent that threatened his love had spread all over the Great Eastern Sea. And even as he stared at her, Felix could feel his courage quiver and seeking to hide he placed his hood over his head once more.

"Were your words nothing more than boasts, my dear friend?"

"Nay, I do feel the need to speak to her. But seeing her now has caused my heart to quiver and make it dumb. I would be a fool to speak to her now."

"Aye, but it would be better to be a fool by her side than to be a wise man alone. Indeed, my heart wishes that I had not been so wise in my youth and that I had confessed all to Gwyn." Felix opened his mouth to respond, but he felt his tongue go dumb, for he saw that Uzume's eyes were upon him. He quickly shut his mouth and stood up. Saying a quick farewell to Kraden he made way to the door, pulling his hood down to cover his face as he did so. But as he put his hand on the handle, he felt another hand touch his. Looking up he saw the face of Uzume a meager distance away, her earthy brown eyes burrowing into his soul and he felt naked under them.

He quickly turned his head away and opened the door and made his way out into the next room. He made for the other heavy wooden door on the nearby wall, intending to leave the inn. He heard a cry behind him, but he ignored it. He swung the door open and stepped out into the cold. He shivered slightly and wrapped the cloak tighter around him and made his way slowly out into the heavy snow. The heavy wind had let up and was replace with a light wind, but the snow fell still. He had not trudged on very far when he heard a fair voice behind him. "Felix!"

His stride halted and he turned about to look at the speaker. There stood Uzume, her eyes wide and open, showing her confusion and her pain at his sudden attempt to escape. "Why do you fly from me?"

Felix removed his hood, feeling it was now too late to escape now that she knew his face. "I was staying at the inn till the storm was over before moving on. It was by chance that you were there when I chose to leave," he lied. His courage from before had swooned and fell, for she seemed fairer in her white mantle with the snow caught in her hair, making the sparkle in her hair ever more the brighter.

Uzume slowly nodded and moved toward slowly through the high snow. And Felix would have run, had her beauty not captivated him. "But you saw my face when you reached the door. You saw my face when I looked at you. You were flying from me. Why?"

"I know not why I ran then. But I have something to ask you. Why are you so far from home? Why are you in the North?"

Her eyes trembled with emotion as she stepped forward again. "I am here to find you. It has been four winters and summers since I last saw you and I feared that you had forgotten your oath. So I left on a merchant ship bound to the town of Lalivero. From there I made the wretched journey over the desert and to Tolbi, where I heard news that there was a great warrior there who had returned alchemy to the world. But it was only one of your companions. You had disappeared, he said to me. I had no clues to where you went, so I wandered the land. And now by chance I find you here. It has been one summer and half a winter since then. And now that I have found you, I will not leave your side with out your leave.

"And now I ask again. Why did you run from me, Felix?"

Felix stood still as he heard what she said, but his face did blush slightly when he saw how close she was to him. Her breath mingled with his as it escaped their lips. A heavy breeze came suddenly and picked their hair up and caused it to mingle together. Uzume blushed and moved to pull back her hair, but Felix's hand came up and brushed her hair away from his. But when he had pushed it back behind her ear, he cupped her cheek in his hand, for he felt his courage return. And as his hand cupped her chin he felt her shiver. He suppressed a shiver as well, for when he touched her it seemed as though lightning danced on the edge of his fingers.

"I know not why I ran from you. And I know not why I never returned to Izumo. I believe it was out of fear."

And at this Uzume became confused and knew not what to say. Felix continued, "And it was not out of fear for monsters or of demons. It was out of fear of you." Uzume's eyes widen and she gasped at this thought.

"Then I am sorry that I sought you out, for if I cause you to fear me, then there is no need for me to be by your side. Farewell, Felix." And so Uzume turned to go, but Felix's hand left her cheek and then grasped her shoulder.

"Do not go. I did not give you leave to do. Did you not tell me you would not leave me until I said so? And I would never send you away from me." His voice then dropped to a whisper as he spoke of what he truly feared. "And I did not mean that you frightened me in a bad way. Rather, you frightened me for another reason."

Uzume turned around and looked at Felix again in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Felix swallowed hard and spoke softly so that even the winds could not hear. "I fear you for your angelic voice and how it dances in my mind. I fear you for the way you stay in my mind all of the days since I last saw you. I fear the way you touched me so that my heart shivers just to see you standing here before me. But most of all I fear how with each moment I look at you, you grow only more fairer in my eyes. " Uzume blushed again as she heard these words.

_He does love me, then,_ she thought. Uzume looked at him softly and moved forward slightly and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. Felix moved back slightly from this, but soon he found that his arms were wrapped around her as well. He rested his chin again her head and breathed in her scent, letting into his mind what he thought was more fragrant than any flower..

Kraden chuckled lightly as he saw the two embrace. "Indeed Felix, you will be a happy man now," he said quietly. Kraden then turned and made his way back into the inn. He stood there for a moment, contemplating if he should return to the common-room or if he should go to his room. Eventually he chose to go to his room. Reaching his room, he took off his cloak and placed it by the bed. And after smoking his pipe for a short while, he turned and got ready for bed. And as he laid in his bed, waiting for the sleepiness to take him, he mumbled small words of blessing for Felix and Uzume.


End file.
